Millions of people around the world enjoy feeding birds, in many cases with bird feeders hanging from posts in their yards. This enjoyment is frequently interrupted by the sight of a squirrel climbing up the post and stealing the birdseed from the feeder. Many devices and tactics have been developed over time to deter squirrels (and other such pests) from their thievery. The efficacy of such prior art attempts have been notably lacking and have left the avid bird feeder owner with less than the desired result.
Various approaches that have been taken to thwart the backyard piracy typically look to inserting a barrier between the squirrel and the bird feeder. Such devices include a cylindrical shaped barriers such as disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. No. 449,719, or flat disc-shaped devices such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,546, or inverted disc-shaped devices such as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,348, or dome-shaped devices like the version shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,856.
Other approaches include the use of devices that dynamically interrupt the access by a squirrel through the use of motion, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,894 where the up-and-down motion of that device discourages the squirrel from climbing the post for a bird feeder. Self-help remedies that are known include the selective use of noise or lights, or in the extreme, shooting the offending animals.
The problems associated with the prior art devices is that they still have do not reach the satisfaction level of the user insofar as preventing the raids on the birdseed. Sometimes this arises from the squirrel's uncanny ability to “learn” the approach for deterrence and to seek ways to evade the device. This is true because the prior art devices known to the applicants rely upon a single effect to bar the squirrels' from climbing, when the use of multiple effects create a much greater degree of difficulty for the animal. In addition, it is another problem associated with the prior art, that the devices that are made for installation onto a supporting post for a bird feeding station do not fit each application uniformly.